Stoke Newington and Hampstead

We had thought of going to Hampstead on Wednesday, but the weather forecast was better for Thursday so we went instead to Stoke Newington, a neighborhood north of Shoreditch.  Two of the women from the knitting club lived there and mentioned there was a nice yarn shop--owned by another member of the group.  We thought it would be cool to just visit a neighborhood in London, so we went.

It wasn't that impressive at first.  Stoke Newington High Street seemed a little the worse for wear and the shop itself was tiny--three of us in there and it was filled to capacity.  We saw an old cemetery where one of the women mentioned "famous people" were buried, though she could not remember who.  And what a cemetery it was, spooky, disheveled and strange.

 The graves were incredibly close to each other and often askew.

 A man walking a dog told us to watch our belongings so they wouldn't be snatched.  There was an abandoned church in the middle of the place...again very spooky.

And some very poignant markers for people who had been killed in the blitz during WW II-whole families had apparently been wiped out.

Once we exited the cemetery on Stoke Newington Church Street, the whole  aspect of the community changed.  There were lovely shops,

even one selling violins...

 A nice looking pub.

 And a tea room where we had some....tea.

The place was filled with young mothers and baby buggies, something we noticed for the next few days.  It seems like Britain is having a baby boom.

From Stoke Newington, we took the bus across town--and I mean across from the far northeast to the southwest--to Victoria Station, on our way to Chiswick House.  We have been trying to stay above ground as much as possible to get the real flavor of the city.  It was a bit weird on the bus, however.  We got on the 73 to Victoria and half way there, the driver announced he would not be going to Victoria and we should take the bus behind us that would.  So we all got off and made our way back to the bus behind, with many people grumbling.

Chiswick House is not really a house, it's more like an event space.  It has no kitchen or bedrooms.  Apparently it was built next to a large house that was eventually torn down and was actually used just for parties, etc.

Like a lot of properties here, it has beautiful gardens....

It also has some fine art works....

and some over-the-top decorations.

And its own lake.....

We took three buses to get home, but we really like looking at the city from eye level or even above.

So Thursday, it was on to Hampstead.

Turns out the weather on Thursday was about the same as Wednesday, cloudy and a bit chilly.  But no rain, so that was good.

Ceci had downloaded a audio walking tour that took us through many places I had not visited on the guided tour from the week before, including this alley, called Flask Walk.

And some really lovely cottages right by Hampstead Heath.  If someone wanted to leave me one of these, I would gladly move in.

Our first real stop was Fenton House, one of the oldest in the neighborhood and filled with art work and beautiful instruments, mainly harpsicords and other keyboards.

I was particularly enamored of this bedroom, which was actually decorated as it would have been in 1952, when the last resident, Lady Binning, lived here.

Our visit to the house was cut short when the fire alarm went off and we were evacuated--the second time that has happened since Ceci has been here.  I'm beginning to wonder....

The grounds were gorgeous, so it was no hardship to be shown out to them.

The English really love their gardens--all shapes, sizes and styles.

When our walk was finished we had a great lunch at the Wells Tavern, which I had been dying to visit.  Then we took a very short bus trip to Kenwood House.  Anyone who has seen the movie Notting Hill will remember this place.....

a mansion sitting up on a hill overlooking Hampstead Heath.  (No photography allowed)  The place is filled with paintings by Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, Van Dyke and even Rembrandt.  Really beautiful and impressive, though we arrived at 3:30 and the house closed at 4PM so we took a very fast tour.  We decided to walk back to Hampstead through the Heath and got a bit lost, though not as lost as we would have been if we went in the direction I thought was right.  

But the Heath has its own rewards, scenes like these.....

We asked a number of people how to get back to Hampstead and everyone gave us a different answer.  Finally, we got to a street next to the Heath and took a bus.  Turns out we were at the bus stop for the bus that goes almost by my flat, so the bad luck turned to good.  And it was another interesting bus ride through some parts of London we probably would not have visited.